House at the End of the Street (PG-13) ★★

Every young, hot leading lady needs to do a horror flick at some point in her career – it's a Tinseltown requirement, apparently – and The House at the End of the Street is Jennifer Lawrence's. Of course, it's not exactly what it seems, shying away from bloody, vicious gimmicks and opting for a more psychological brand of horror.

Lawrence is an actress who doesn't exactly jump for the easy grabs. Even the Hunger Games, which was born out of a giant literary franchise, isn't your typical starlet fare. And for the typical young-actress-in-a-cheesy-horror-flick move, House is a step above. But despite Lawrence's solid performance and the film's attempt to really dig at the complicated psyche of a young girl who falls in love with a (potential) psycho, it still winds up being just another horror movie.

The film spends most of its time establishing the cutesy love story between Lawrence's Alyssa and her boyfriend/enemy Ryan — and an exorbitant amount of time letting the pair make-out like the horny teenagers they're supposed to be — and only a sliver of the plot actually allows Lawrence's character to wrestle with her emotions. It's there, but it's gone in a flash, wasting the talents the film has in its corner.

Still, for those looking for a schlocky horror film to gobble up on a Friday night, House at the End of the Street will certainly do the trick.

[Photo Credit: Relativity Media]

Hollywood.com rated this film 2 stars.